Worlds Collide
by kittikat8531
Summary: He sealed himself in the Sennen Puzzle and was released a few thousand years later when Yuugi needed him, but what about in between? And what did they say to each other the first time they really met? Please R&R.


AN: It's been done before and doubtless will be again, but this is a look into the progression from Atem to the spirit of the Puzzle, ending with his first real conversation with Yuugi. I won't claim it's much of anything, but it's not a bad read. I think.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or anything related.

88888888

At first, he swore he wouldn't be afraid.

He had done what he had set out to do. He had stopped the evil plaguing his country despite the cost. It didn't matter that he'd given up everything as long as no one else had to suffer. And he wasn't alone, precisely- his faithful servant was with him still in the deep darkness that was his new world.

He was dead. He knew that. Still, it didn't _seem_ that way. Other than the emptiness in his mind where his name should have been, he didn't think his current existence was too different from living. He could remember his friends and the sun, and he could recall with crystal clarity why he had sealed himself in his golden pendant.

Shadows seethed in the corners, but they seemed wary of approaching the young Pharaoh, a son of the gods themselves. He walked unopposed through the silent corridors of his prison. Mahaad was with him most of the time, but he didn't know his true name either, so the boy knew his spell had worked as planned.

His next vow was to not show his fear.

Bit by bit, his recollections of the world beyond his prison were fading. It seemed like nothing at first. He had realized he couldn't recall the precise shade of the Nile at sunset. It escalated from there.

Soon the faces he could see in his mind's eye had no names. Then he knew their personalities, but not their pasts. Faces were all that were left not much later. As time dragged on, even those began to disappear.

The gaps in his memories terrified him and he clung to his guardian, no longer interested in prowling the silent passages. He thought Mahaad was changing too, but if so the progression was slow enough that it was hard to tell.

He promised not to show his guardian his pain.

In empty rooms far from the position the magic user had chosen, the young man shrieked his anguish and fear. He pounded the ground trying to feel something, _anything_, but without a physical form his efforts failed to have any results.

Everything from his past was gone. The only reason he knew he even _had_ one was because he could recall that once the world had been brighter and larger than his dark prison. He couldn't remember why it was a prison or what had caused him to be there. The darkness became a constant companion, and the shadows that had once feared him were now eager. There was no light to combat them.

The next time he saw his protector, he realized that even the magician's name was gone, another aching void in his empty mind. The face had changed as well. It was no longer the visage of the man he had once been. It was the appearance of what he had become. There would no longer be comforting words of strength from this last link to his life. The only voice that ever sounded was his own, and there were times when even he couldn't recognize that.

He broke down after that. Sobbed and wept and pleaded for those things he couldn't remember, the life he didn't recall living. He wanted to have friends and a home beyond shadows. His protector could do nothing but watch as his charge unleashed every one of his wild emotions.

He was alone now. The guardian had withdrawn into a piece of stone and appeared only if danger arose. That was rare in this prison that changed without changing. The shadows would not threaten so obviously. They preferred mocking laughter, jeering reminders that he had nothing left.

He was somewhat aware of the passage of time, though there were no signs in his narrow world to define it. He could recall the concept of eating, but not the taste of food, and as someone that was not alive he had no need for it besides. It was just another regret. Sleep too was unnecessary, though he tried now and again in hopes that he might wake up to something else.

The shadows ceased to be frightening. He could command them, though to little effect. There was nothing to be done, thus there was no need. Still, he learned whatever he could, hoping this at least would not be forgotten as all else had.

It was an unbelievable shock when things began to change, and in a way it made him afraid once more.

Once black as pitch, his world became visible for the first time. He could see the stone of the passages and the carving of a stylized eye on the doors. Things he had taken to be normal in his blindness were now revealed to be upside down or sideways, or even disconnected entirely, defying what small sense of logic he had managed to retain.

When a new door appeared some unknown amount of time later, he could hardly contain the amount of fearful excitement it inspired. The door was the promise of something unknown, a possibility of venturing beyond the maze that was all he knew. It felt… warm. He hadn't realized the chill before.

He stretched one pale hand for the knob but paused, again uncertain. He was not whatever he might have been when he had entered, and he did not know what he might encounter beyond the portal.

A cry of pain echoed through the endless rooms, stunning him. He remembered the pain of emotion, but the cry was different from that. Like a physical blow, perhaps? He could not remember having a body.

Worried now, he did reach for the door.

Once through, he almost blasted by, scarcely noticing the shape of another person in a room across the hall from his own bizarre world. He understood without knowing how that someone or something was distressing the warm light that had found him however long ago, and he was determined to stop it.

Like an avenging angel, he stood face to face with the mystery assailant. He issued a challenge to a game despite not recalling what a game was or why he might do such a thing, and he was unsure if such a game truly existed. Whether it did or not hardly mattered- he won, and the one that had caused the cry met his punishment.

And he returned to his prison willingly, content to have done as much for the person that had somehow rescued him.

88888888

He came to realize later that he could see this new world through the eyes of the light, so he watched everything with complete fascination. The 'school', the 'arcade', the 'game shop', all of it was new and wonderful.

Still, he had not forgotten darkness, and he reacted with it whenever there was a true risk to the safety of the one that had in turn saved him. Those that were recognized as threats soon met with his cruel justice. And he knew it was cruel.

Death was one, if he chose or if the risk had been great. Madness was another. He left his opponents 'hospitalized', possibly forever. It was no worry to him as long as nothing jeopardized his savior.

Only what troubled the light troubled him. He had no care for the other people that walked in the world beyond his own at first.

Things were changing again, though.

Soon he would respond to risks to those that his light favored as well, knowing that the light would feel their pain with them. He expended a great deal of effort to be sure that he left no trace of his existence except for the emptiness in the light's memories that he could do nothing about.

88888888

He never expected the light to realize his presence and seek him out. Had he not been dead already, the sight of the light choosing to enter his dangerous world might have killed him.

He stepped out of the shadows to confront him, not willing to allow the delicate mortal to wander unchecked through the endless maze and its deadly traps.

"Who are you?"

There was no answer he could really give to that question. He shook his head in response.

"_What_ are you?"

Another shake of his head. If he had ever known, he could not be sure now.

"Do you have a name?"

Again. He knew that he had possessed one once, but it was only one more of the many things that had vanished from his existence.

"Can I talk to you?"

He nodded now. Anything the light wanted, he would provide.

"My name is Yuugi," the light said hesitantly. "I need something I can call you, my other self. We can choose a name for you."

"I am only the darkness. I have no need for a name."

Those were the first words he spoke to the one that had saved him.

"Then… Yami. We can call you Yami. It means 'dark'."

'Yami' inclined his head. "If that is what you want."

"Why are you here?"

"I do not know."

"How did you get here?"

Yami gestured around them. "This has been my world for a very long time."

"This? The Puzzle?"

He blinked. "Puzzle?"

Yuugi touched the inverted pyramid pendant he was wearing. "This is the Sennen Puzzle. I put it together, and I guess that was when I found you."

"Then yes, I suppose this is the Puzzle."

"Are you… the reason I've been blacking out?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"You were in danger. I stopped the people that would have hurt you."

"How?"

"I do not think you wish the answer to that question."

Judging by the expression the light now wore, he was able to guess. "Did you mean to hurt them?"

"Yes."

He had no reason to lie. He had lost everything- that was the sole piece of knowledge he had managed to cling to for the countless years of his imprisonment. This light was all he had, and he did not intend to drive him away with dishonesty. The truth, however harsh, was best.

"Will they… recover?"

"Perhaps. If they learn the lesson I meant to teach."

"Your lessons are dangerous."

"Yes."

"Are you a spirit? You look a lot like me."

"I am dead. That is all I can recall. I do not know my own face."

"How are you here? In the Puzzle, I mean?"

He shrugged. "The answer to that is lost in the sands of time, as are the rest of my memories. I had them once, but they are gone."

"You've been alone a long time, haven't you?"

"Yes."

He didn't expect this person that felt like another half of himself to look him in the eye and smile.

"Well, if this is the only world you have, I'll share mine. You don't have to be alone any more."

88888888

AN: That's that. Review, please. I always appreciate knowing what people think of my work. Till next time!


End file.
